Historical or Hysterical? You Decide

The time has come for me to offer my perspective on President Trump’s historical Middle East Summit, and the Democrats’ hysterical response to it. Unlike many who write commentary on current events, I don’t stay up late on the day of an event, feverishly attempting to be the first to dazzle the world with my brilliant punditry.

Often I prefer to give events a little time to mature, for the facts to emerge. This has helped me avoid the embarrassment many of my contemporaries experience when they rush to judgment, and later find they had their facts wrong.

In this case, the facts regarding Mr. Trump’s remarkable accomplishments in the Middle East have not changed. But an interesting pattern of Liberal hysteria has emerged that was predictable, but not so apparent when the president returned from his first international trip as president.

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Hillary Clinton is not the only unhinged Democrat. John Kerry, Obama, and many others competed with her in their rush to make most senseless, absurd comments about the trip in general and the Middle East Summit in particular.

Why are they so anxious to belittle a major victory for the United States? Jealousy. Obama went to Saudi Arabia for a Council of Gulf States to try to do what Trump did. He was snubbed in a very obvious way. Instead of the King greeting him personally with a kiss (as he had other world leaders who arrived earlier in the day), he sent the mayor of the city of Riyadh to meet him.

By contrast, Trump was escorted by dozens of horses carrying American and Saudi flags with great pomp and circumstance. He was delivered to a red carpet where King Salman greeted him personally. They even had a band that played our national anthem. (They didn’t play it very well, but I give them points because they played it to honor the president).

Arabs respect power, straightforward negotiations, and business skills. They know Trump has all these in spades and is a very successful man. So they gave him a welcome fit for – well, a king. But despite all Obama’s pandering and even bowing to the king (something no American president should ever do) they gave him a chilly reception because he is a man without accomplishments, backed only by foolish liberals.

Another contrast: Both Obama and Trump visited Muslim majority nations shortly after taking office. The world still refers to Obama’s trip as his “Apology Tour,” in which he told Muslims that America is not a Christian nation, and apologized for many imagined sins he said we had committed against the world. Trump unapologetically stated America’s strong position and invited the Muslims and Arabs to join us in fighting terrorism. They responded to his strength, and he was able to build ties with governments that didn’t trust the US because of Obama’s weakness and broken promises.

Obama accomplished nothing on his trip to Saudi Arabia besides making himself look even more foolish than usual. President Trump made major strides in our relationship with the Arab states, some of which are just now coming to light. Another reason for Democrat jealousy.

One of the reasons the Arabs were so upset with Obama was his Iranian deal that virtually guaranteed that Iran will be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and which inflamed tensions in the Middle East. By contrast, Trump pointed out to the Arab leaders that Iran is the world’s greatest financier of terrorism. He was applauded hugely. Yet another reason for the Democrats to be jealous.

Now, I am not blind to the fact that many in Trump’s audience also fund terrorism themselves to one degree or another. And I know that Saudi Arabia, our sometime ally, is one of those. But two facts about Iran are abundantly clear: It is, without a doubt, the greatest sponsor of terrorism and terrorists, providing direct aid and weapons to Islamists who kill US citizens. And – thanks to Obama’s naiveté – this terrorist state will be the first Arab nation to have nuclear capability.

Representatives of 55 Arab and Muslim states came to the Summit to meet Trump and hear him speak. The greatest accomplishment of the Summit was the way he changed the hearts and minds of Arab’s toward himself – and therefore toward America. In the article below (“Why Trump is Already Winning More in the Middle East than Obama Did”), a Muslim Medical Doctor, Qanta Ahmed, recounts how she interviewed dozens of Arab military officers and civilians. “When I asked them what they thought of President Trump, I was greeted with beaming smiles and thumbs-up all round. ‘Good! Good!’”

She continued, “When I asked them if they thought that President Trump is an enemy to Muslims, like many in the U.S. believe, they shook their heads vigorously, ‘No.’ And one Egyptian Officer, speaking for his group of fellow officers, explained further: ‘No! He is not an enemy to the Muslims. He is not an enemy to the good Muslims. He is an enemy to the bad Muslims, to ISIS!’ The berets bobbed up and down, in unison. Not one of them disagreed.”

She summarized her many exchanges with Arabs this way: “President Trump is respected and seen as a welcome change to his predecessor. And his first foreign tour represents a longed-for shift in foreign policy from the eight years of the Obama Doctrine, which was viewed in the Middle East as a policy of pandering to the Shia Islamist superpower of Iran at the expense of traditional Sunni allies.”

Israel is also happy for the first time in eight years. Obama was well-known for his belligerence toward the State of Israel. Had it not been for the pressure from Jewish voters, he would have treated Israel even more disgracefully. From keeping the Prime Minister of Israel waiting in the White House for 90 minutes; and then going off to dinner with his family and leaving the PM alone; to weaseling out on defense deals that had long been in place; to abandoning Israel to its enemies in the UN Security Council, when he could have simply vetoed hostile resolutions; Obama proved that he was never a friend to Israel. Trump, on the other hand, made sure Israel knew that the United States, its long-time ally, was once again its friend.

It has been three weeks since Trump visited the Middle East. But we are still seeing results of negotiations he started. For instance, several Gulf nations have announced sanctions against their neighbor Qatar, due to its support for terrorism.

As they say in the South, Obama “talked good.” He gave a speech condemning terrorism in Cairo in 2009 that was full of soaring rhetoric. But he never backed it up with action. Trump, on the other hand, said the same things (although not with the pretty words), and the leaders of the Middle East believed him. They know him to be a man of action, not just words.

I’ll give Dr. Ahmed the final word. “This is why President Trump has been so well received in the region. Unlike Obama, Trump is seen to possess ‘wasta,’ best translated from Arabic as ‘influence,’ or ‘pull.’

“In the Middle East, ‘wasta’ matters more than guns, gold or even lineage. And President Trump, with his non-rhetorical, pragmatic and business-like approach, is viewed as someone who knows where to throw his ‘wasta’.”

Dr. Tom Barrett

Dr. Tom Barrett has been a pastor for over 40 years and currently oversees ordained ministers in South Florida. He has always been a bi-vocational minister, working in the financial services arena as a Branch Manager and National Vice President. He is a Patriot who has studied and taught the Constitution in both church and secular settings. A prolific author he has written a book on Conservative principles (The Best of Conservative Truth) and has written over a thousand feature articles that have been published in local and national newspapers as well as on the Internet. He speaks nationally on the Christian foundations of our nation and its Constitution, and internationally on Biblical financial principles. He has lectured at seminaries, universities, economic summits, churches, and the International Money Shows. His websites are www.ConservativeTruth.org (writing); www.ChristianFinancialConcepts.com (ministry); www.InvestmentGrade.gold (precious metals), and www.DrTom.TV (personal). His work is followed by thousands at www.Facebook.com/DrTomTV.

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